The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a combination ski boot and walking sole and connection or attachment means for securing the walking sole at the ski boot.
Modern day ski boots are constructed with rigid soles so that walking in such ski boots is not only uncomfortable but in many instances even painful. In order to alleviate or at least mitigate this problem there have already been constructed so-called walking soles which extend over the entire rigid sole of the boot or only cover a part thereof and permit a rolling-off or tilting-type movement of the ski boot during walking. However, a drawback of such constructions resides in the fact that the walking soles of necessity must be taken along by the skier during skiing so that such walking soles can be again immediately remounted at the ski boots when the skier contemplates walking with the ski boots.
In an effort to permit the skier to take along the walking soles during the time that he is skiing attempts have been made to mount the walking soles upon the skis, to carry them in some manner upon the ski poles, to hang them about special support belts or the like, to store them away in pouches or backpacks, to suspend them at the buttons or zippers of the clothing or to even insert them into the pants or skiing jacket pockets or the like. Yet, it has been found that when the skier takes a fall the walking soles which are carried in some fashion at the body of the skier and which are nonetheless still relatively hard for reasons of strength can injure the skier. Furthermore, in the case where the walking soles are stored in pockets they tend to soil the linings or their outer surroundings because the snow which still clings to the walking soles oftentimes is dirty.